It seems crazy to talk about a new line of fabric, since it feels like Boardwalk Delight just showed up on my doorstep.
But ahhh! My friends!
I have a new collection of fabric, with Art Gallery Fabrics!And it comes out in DECEMBER.

The fabrics are colorful. They’re fun.
And I was greatly inspired by my love for Mexican Oilcloth.
Mmm I love oilcloth.
But you already know that.
And I equally love a fiesta, any day of the week.

Some designs are in 2 color ways. And the Papel Picado print (the orange and green above) comes in 4 colors! Imagine the fun garlands you can make with that.

You can see more images HERE on the Art Gallery site.
And as soon as the fabrics show up at my house I’ll do a more comprehensive post.
But maybe this will get dreaming about Bolds + Pastels and plenty of confetti.

When Clara told me she wanted to be a cat for Halloween I did the internal eye roll.
Really?
A cat?
Does it get more cliche or ((boring?)) or blah blah blah?
I guess every girl wants to be a cat at some point in her life?….

But then I realized how ridiculous I was being, because Clara LOVES cats. They’re her absolute favorite animal and she sleeps with 3 stuffed kitties every night.

So of course she should be a cat!
And how stinking cute would a Clara Cat look?
AND….what if we made it a leopard cat?
Okay.
I was totally on board.

Just having an excuse to buy leopard knit spandex made me happy.
And guess what?? There are some great choices at Girl Charlee. Can you imagine a whole “family” of little girls in different leopard prints?!
Clara and I picked our favorite—pink, peach, + black.
Ahhh! So cute!

Okay there are a bazillion ways to make a kitty cat costume, I’m sure.
So I tried to keep it simple and let the fabric be the star of the show.
I used three of my video tutorials for this ensemble:

SHIRT + LEGGINGS
I took a pair of leggings that Clara already had to create a pattern for a new pair of leggings.
Then I sewed a t-shirt using the same method (from the video above and THIS tutorial)
Because I mean….a whole out outfit out that same fabric? Too much. In a good kitty cat way.

TAIL
(refer to the images below):
• Cut a long strip of fabric and fold it in half lengthwise.
• Sew down one side and then curve your stitch around the bottom, so the bottom of the tail is round. Do NOT sew the top closed.
• Use your finger to turn the whole thing right side out.
• Tuck the open ends under and sew a small piece of velcro to the top.
• Sew the other piece of velcro to the middle back waistband of the leggings, so you can remove the tail, if needed. I knew the tail would bother her at school, while sitting down, so this was really helpful and easy to do.

EARS
• Begin making a headband as outlined in the video above, but don’t sew the ends closed.
• For the ears, refer to my shape below. I drew a small pattern piece and cut out two pieces from gray felt, “on the fold”, so they were symmetrical on each side.
• With wrong sides of the fabric together, sew the felt onto a piece of the leopard fabric and trim the edges when you’re done. Now you have two ear pieces with felt on one side, leopard on the other.

• Take the first ear and bring the two “corners” into so they create an ear shape.
• Use a needle and thread to hand sew the ends together and then sew the first ear onto the headband. Sew enough stitches to secure it in place.
• Space the other ear a few inches down (it’s best to try it on their head to see how the spacing looks) and hand sew the second ear in place as well.
• Fold the edges of one of the headband ends under, and tuck the other end inside. Sew the headband closed with a topstitch.

YOU GUYS!
I’ve been dying to share these flowers with you!….ever since Miranda showed me how to make them at a Girl’s Night party this spring.
So. I invited her back on the set and we made a video showing you all the steps! (remember when she and I made leggings together? Miranda’s so much fun.)

These flowers do take several minutes to whip up, but they’re very simple and you can make them all kinds of shapes, colors, sizes, for just about any event or occasion. Parties… weddings… showers… holidays… bedroom decor….just because it’s Tuesday?
Totally.
And no two flowers are ever alike. It’s one of those projects that can really flex your creativity.

So grab some cardstock from Paperandmore.com—they’re my favorite online source, with a great selection.
The flowers would look awesome made from the parchment colors, or ooh the metallic. And hello GLITTER. That would look really cool for the flower centers.